Published: 18:46, November 29, 2025
Tai Po fire: 150 still unaccounted for, search of 2 blocks ends
By Shadow Li in Hong Kong
Members of the Hong Kong Police Force’s Disaster Victim Identification Unit arrive at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong's Tai Po district, Nov 29, 2025. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

The Hong Kong police force’s Disaster Victim Identification Unit has completed searching Wang Yan House and Wang Tao House at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, both of which were relatively less affected by the fire, the authorities said on Saturday.

No more bodies had been found during the search of the two blocks. Instead, three cats and a turtle were rescued.

So far, 150 people remain unaccounted for. And 100 of these cases contain only fragmented information, including instances where the person seeking help had lost contact with them for years, or only knew the person's nickname, according to the police.

The police said the search of the two blocks took about half a day, while the search in the two worst-hit blocks, including Wang Cheong House, where the fire was believed to have started, has yet to begin.

As of 3 pm on Saturday, the death toll stood at 128, with the possibility of it climbing as the police team continues its search. A total of 83 people were injured.

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The police said they hope to greatly shorten the expected three to four weeks for searching all the fire-ravaged seven blocks.

The SAR government’s donation bank account has so far received HK$800 million ($102.5 million) in addition to its initial government funding of HK$300 million, according to Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Warner Cheuk Wing-hing.

He said MTR Corp – the city’s rail operator – will provide each of the affected residents an Octopus card with pre-stored value of HK$2,000 to facilitate their needs to travel.

By 3:30 pm on Saturday, 929 households had received the HK$10,000 cash subsidy for contingency purposes. To enhance support for those affected, two to three civil servants would be assigned to each household to help them in their various applications, in addition to a social worker.

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said the SAR government understands the feelings of the residents concerned, as they are helpless and unsecured now.

She said as long as the family was living at the residential estate during the fire, they, regardless of tenant or owners, would be eligible for the HK$10,000 cash subsidy announced earlier for each household affected.